September 26, 2014

Lang Lang, Nikolaus Harnoncount & TVPO Bring Mozart Album September 30th

LANG LANG, NIKOLAUS HARNONCOUNT, AND THE VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
RELEASE THEIR FIRST JOINT RECORDING PROJECT
THE MOZART ALBUM

Available September 30, 2014

Lang Lang performs with Cleveland Orchestra (Oct. 9-12), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Oct. 15), St. Louis Symphony (Oct. 18), New York Philharmonic (Oct. 21), at the United Nations (Oct. 24) and at the Tilles Center in Greenvale, NY (Recital, Oct. 25 & 101 Pianists, Oct. 26)

Sony Classical is delighted to announce Lang Lang’s first album entirely devoted to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart available September 30. World renowned pianist, Lang Lang, will be joined by the legendary Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Harnoncourt is famous for his ability to match deep knowledge of 17th and 18th century musical language with an interpretative mind of outstanding originality.

Lang Lang says of the iconic conductor: “I’ve never seen anyone with such a passionate way of working, or such authenticity. He has a way of explaining the music that takes me straight to the time it was composed.” For Harnoncourt, too, this is a stimulating partnership: “It’s rare to find someone who is so open-minded,” he says of Lang Lang. “I can only work with soloists who are ready to collaborate with me on a concept, and very seldom have I experienced a reading of the work that developed so quickly.”

The first part of this two-album set was recorded in spring 2014 in the Goldener Saal of Vienna’s Musikverein and sees Lang Lang and Nikolaus Harnoncourt perform Mozart’s two famous piano concerti – K 453 in G major and K491 in C minor – together with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The second part of the album showcases Lang Lang as soloist in Mozart’s three early piano sonatas together with the Rondo alla turca, the Allegro in F major K 1c and the Konzertstück in F major, K 33b. The three early Mozart sonatas form part of his latest recital program which Lang Lang is touring around the world. These performances were captured in November 2013 at the pianist’s sold-out Royal Albert Hall concerts, which earned him the following praise in the Guardian: “… exhilarating flair and brilliance … melodic lines were gracefully yet firmly profiled … Above all there was a measured yet flexible approach to tempo that gave individual ideas space to breathe and placed them within their wider contexts with seemingly effortless deliberation.”

A documentary will also be available that explores the behind-the-scenes moments when these two extraordinary musicians came together to record these masterworks.

Sony Classical will release the concert, Lang Lang – Live at the Royal Albert Hall on DVD, Blu-ray and digitally along with The Mozart Album this fall. This video captured the full concert and includes the three Mozart sonatas (K 282, K 283, K 310), Chopin’s four Ballades as well as all the eight sparkling encores which the pianist treated his audience to at both of his sold-out London concerts.

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait, Masterworks Broadway and Flying Buddha imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.SonyMasterworks.com

The Mozart Album (Double Album)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Part 1
1-3 Piano Concertos No. 24 in C Minor, K 491
4-6 Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K 453

Part 2
1-3 Piano Sonatas No. 5 in G Major, K 283
4-6 Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, K 282
7-9 Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K 310
10 March in c major, K 408/1
11 Piano piece in F Major, K 33b
12 Allegro for Piano in F Major, K 1c
Encore
13 (Rondo) alla Turca. Allegretto (from Piano Sonata No. 11)

www.langlang.com

PERFORMANCE DATES

Sep. 26, 27, 28
Philadelphia, PA – Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Philadelphia Orchestra – Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17, K. 453

Oct. 9
Cleveland, OH – Severance Hall
Cleveland Orchestra – Franz Welser-Möst – Ravel: Andante spianato & Grand Polonaise brilliante; Strauss: Burleske

Oct. 10
Cleveland, OH – Severance Hall
Cleveland Orchestra – Franz Welser-Möst – Strauss: Burleske

Oct. 12
Cleveland, OH – Severance Hall
Cleveland Orchestra – Franz Welser-Möst – Ravel: Andante spianato & Grand Polonaise brilliante; Strauss: Burleske

Oct. 15
Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Symphony Hall
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra – Robert Spano – Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17

Oct. 18
St. Louis, MO – Powell Symphony Hall
St. Louis Symphony – David Robertson – Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1

Oct. 21
New York, NY – Avery Fisher Hall
New York Philharmonic – Alan Gilbert – Mozart; Piano Concerto No. 17, No 24

Oct. 24
New York, NY – General Assembly Hall at United Nations – UN Day Concert

Oct. 25
Greenvale, NY – Tilles Center – Recital

Oct. 26
Greenvale, NY – Tilles Center -100 Young Global Piano Phenoms
Schubert’s Marche Militaire No. 1; Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca.

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